About Used Steering Columns
The steering column connects the wheel to the steering gear and carries the ignition, switches, airbag clock spring, and tilt mechanism, and worn or crash-damaged columns need replacing. A used column is far cheaper than rebuilding one.
What a Steering Column Does
The steering column houses the steering shaft from the wheel down toward the steering gear, and carries the ignition lock, the multifunction switches, the clock spring, the tilt and telescope mechanism, and on many vehicles a collapsible section and column-mounted shifter. Modern columns may include the electric assist motor.
Signs Your Steering Column Is Failing
- Play, looseness, or clunks in the column
- A worn or failed tilt or telescope mechanism
- A collapsed column or damage after a collision
- A failed ignition lock housing or worn shifter mechanism
What to Check When Buying a Used Steering Column
- Check for play in the shaft and a tight tilt mechanism
- Confirm what is included: switches, lock, clock spring, shifter
- On electric-assist columns, match the exact part number
- Match the column for your vehicle, options, and transmission
Common Applications
Every vehicle has a steering column, and worn tilt mechanisms, loose bearings, and collision damage, including collapsed columns doing their crash job, drive replacement. A complete used column brings the switches and mechanisms with it.
Related Parts
Frequently Asked Questions
Why replace a whole steering column?
Worn tilt mechanisms and shaft bearings make the wheel sloppy, and rebuilding a column is fiddly specialist work. A complete used column, with its switches and mechanisms already installed, is usually cheaper and faster.
What happens to columns in a crash?
Columns are designed to collapse in a frontal impact so the wheel does not spear the driver. A collapsed column did its job and must be replaced, not repaired, as part of the crash repair.
What comes with a used column?
Often the multifunction switches, ignition lock housing, clock spring, tilt mechanism, and column shifter if equipped. Confirm the contents, a loaded column saves transferring parts, though the lock means a different key unless you swap your cylinder.
Do electric power steering columns interchange?
Only by exact part number. Column-assist electric steering builds the motor and control unit into the column, calibrated to the vehicle, and may need programming. Match precisely.
